ADVANCE = Activities Directed toward Ventures And New Challenges Everyday

Program

ADVANCE is designed to provide neurologically impaired children with related communication/speech and language deficits an intensive, scientifically based full year educational program and to contribute to research aimed at improving treatment and learning acquisition. The main focus of the program is to help children between the ages of 5 and 17 years of age obtain their full academic potential in addition to developing appropriate life skills that will enable them to live productive lives. Teachers, therapists and parents work together in an environment that allows the child to succeed.

Our philosophy is that children with these specific needs require a very structured classroom; one with appropriate interventions and multi-sensory input by teachers, speech therapists, occupational therapists, and others, as needed on an individual basis.

The Matthew Reardon Center ADVANCE Academy uses a multi-modal approach that incorporates Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) techniques, Discrete Trial Teaching (DTT), Speech and Language, and Occupational Therapy services that are all center-based. In order to provide quality education that is effective we take great care to maintain a low student-teacher ratio. This provides us with the ability to deliver closely supervised, intensive, and individualized educational services in an environment that is, at the same time, warm, friendly, supportive, and above all, proactive. The child interacts with a variety of trained staff and other students during a full-day program and has access to community outings on a regular basis each week where social goals can be implemented beyond the classroom as specified in his or her individual curriculum. Programs for any existing behavior programs are easily integrated into the day's routine and managed by an onsite behavioral consultant.

Curriculum

Each child’s curriculum is based on his/her Individual Education Plan (IEP). Initial functional assessments, cognitive, speech and language, fine and gross motor, and academic assessments provide baseline information as to what skills the child currently has, what gaps may be present in current skill levels, and what skills the child should be working toward next developmentally. The results of these assessments provide the basis for the student’s current IEP goals. Ongoing assessments allow staff to monitor progress and provide ongoing information to develop developmentally appropriate goals that are individualized for each child.

 Parent's Rights